Twitter tests audio chat tool Spaces on Android in India

Twitter logo. Pic/AFP

After first testing its audio chat feature Spaces with a small group of people on iOS, Twitter on Tuesday said it is now expanding the test to Android users in India, to give them a chance to join, listen, and speak in live, host-moderated audio conversations.

Currently, the feature is available as an early preview for a select few Android users who are part of the app's Beta programme in the country. In the feature, users can create a 'Space' that their followers can join to participate in a conversation.

Anyone on Twitter can listen in on the conversation, though only the host can control who gets to speak. Twitter said it is working to give everyone the ability to create and host Spaces on both Android and iOS soon.

The move comes at a time when invite-only, audio-chat app Clubhouse is fast gaining popularity among the social media users. Twitter first started testing the new way to bring the conversation to life with Spaces in December 2020.

The human voice can convey nuance, emotion and meaning often lost in the text. It can add a layer of empathy that humanises public conversation. Spoken-word, therefore, feels like a natural extension to the existing text-based formats on Twitter.

While voice Tweets opened the door for expression using audio on Twitter, voice messages in Direct Messages (DMs) experiment give people another way to express themselves in private conversations. Now, Twitter is testing Spaces.

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